Sheet-folding apparatus



April 16, 1929. A. A. MccoRMAcK I SHEET FOLDING APPARATUS Z'SheQtS-Sheet 1 Filed April 4 1927 ml/em A/em/Me 4. Mew/mad w W M Patent d A r. 16; 1929.

j "U -D. STATE-S 1v YORK.

pplic tion med" April A,

This invention relates to ash'eet folding apparatus, and more ,particu1ar.ly to an a pparatus for-selectiveley folding-sheets vari} ous sizes to a predeterminedfsizer,

' 5 An object ,of the invention is to-provide an apparatusfor folding sheets of varying sizes indiscriminately fed to the 'apparatus into a predetermined-size.

The invention contemplates ,the provision' of an apparatushavingw means for selectively advancing a-xsheet of material alonga'prede termined path according to its size to impart the required number of foldsto reducethe sheet to the requiredsize; lnhaccordance with one embodiment of the invention, the selectors whichadvancelthe sheets along the different-"paths are actuated-by the sheets which are tobe folded. I

, g Itbelieved that a. complete understand 9 ing of the'invention may .belhadtby re'ference to the followin description .taken in coni e accompanying drawings,

1unction with .t .inwhic'h 7; i Fig. 1:sho.ws.a .plan v ew, partially "sche- 2 g ic of portion 01E- aioldin'g apparat Fig; i2 shows a schematic end view of the folding apparatus; Q r

V Fig. 3 shows ane'delevation of theselectiingimechanismgw '40 as for instance blueprints having a widt of -.tIWen ty-seven inches and lengths of sixteen, thirty-itwora'nd forty-eight inches. The sheets are fed to the machine aligned -withthe right .handside-ofthe app s, as Viewed in Figs' '45 1 and 2', andarejadvancedby means of tapes ifiluntilthey come in contact witha bar 6.1 A folding knife 7 is then actuatedwhich moves the sheet between the folding rolls -8 and 9, iolding the sheet to a, width of thirteen and one-.half-inchesf The sheets are thenlcarried by the tapes 10 into contact with a bar 11. V 7 When :a sheet sixteen inches, in length is aligned against the bar ll a folding knife 15 is actuated, moving the sheet between'foldin'g 1. spring new RICE; 1

ALEXANDER ASCHAM MCCORMACK,"0F DAYTON; i OHI O, 'ASSIGNOR TO WESTERNELEC", TRIO JGOMPANY, INCORPORATED, -01 NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION NEW snnmfronmne ArPAnATus.

rolls '16 and 7, foldingi the sh tqjt length of eight inches, whereupon the sheet be ng foldedto a size of eight by thirteen and onehalt is carried directlyto a stacking-box 1'8;

When a sheet thirty-two inches in length is aligned against the bar '11, afolding kni'fe is actuated, moving the sheet between the toldmg'rolls'QO and 21 which will direct the sheet into a path where it will receive another fold uponthe actuation ofa kni'fe 25 movin the material between the folding rolls26 an 27 whereupon the sheet being eight by "thirteen and one-half inches in size passes to the stacking box 18. "Whenfa "sheet forty-eight inches in -length is aligned: against the bar '11,

afolding knife 28 will be actuated,moving the material between foldingrolls 29 and 30,'di-

recting theshe'et into a path in which'it' Will receive another foldybvmeans of affoldin'g knife 3l'and folding rolls i5 and'46 and still another fold :by means :of a 'folding iknife 47 v and folding rolls 48' andt9, whereupon the sheet'b-eing eight by thirteen andone-halt' inches in s ze will he carried into' the stacking "box 18 l The mechanism for; selecting the sheetsand advanoing 't hem along" the predetermined 'pathsaccording'to-their size'is shown in de- 'tailin Figs. 3 and L The foldingknivesT5 19 and128 are each carriedby an arm eflwhich Y 'is supported on twouipright rods 51 which are slidably mountedrin"apertures 55 of 1 frame56." The rods5-1 may be reciprocated a in anupward and downwarddirection by means of a bell crank lever 57 which is provided with a roller '58 whichridesupon aca-m '59 having a circular and a "cut-out section The movementof the bell cranklever is'communicated to the rods through a connecting rod 60 which ,is ,pivoted tofia collar 61 attached to the rods "When the ioller58 is in contact with the circular portionof the cam 59 the knife andgits supporting mechanism will he. held ,in their "uppermost position, and when the roller 58 comes in *contact withthe' cut-out section ofthe cam; the'knii'e will be 1 I A standard 7 6 is mounted upon the frame 56 upon which ispivoted a paw1 77 which is adapted to engage a notch in a plate 7 8 at.-

'-' actuated downwardly "by 7 means of 2a tached to the arn1 50. "lVhen a sheetof material is carried underia' lever 79,*the pawl 77 will be withdrawn from the notch by means of a rod 80 against the action of a spring 81. It will be noted that when the roller 58 is riding upon the circular surface of the cam 59, the arm 50 and the plate 78 are supported in such a posit-ion'that the pawl loosely en A gages the notch inthe plate 78 so that-the sheet which engages the lever 79 needs merely to overcome the resistance of thespring 81in order to withdraw the pawl from the notch. The relation of the geartrain 82 actuating the driving i'uechauis n of the knife 7, tapes 10 and cam 59 is such that asheet will arrive under the lever 79 only when the roller 58 is riding upon the circular portion of the cam. WVhen a sheetsi te-en inches in length is aligned against the rod 11 only lever 79 will be raised, resulting in the actuation of knife 15 when the irregular surface 64:- of

cam 59 reaches a position opposite roller 58 97 torotate a rod 98 engagingla pawl 99 'mounted thereon with a notch in a plate 100 attached to the arm 50,, therebyipreventing the actuation of the knife 15 when the knife 19 is actuated. More specifically described the knife 19will be actuated when the roller -58is aligned with the irregular]v surface or depressed portion 65 of cam 62. IVhen in this position the roller58'together with the ,bell crank lever 57 is free to move under the 1 .action of spring 7 5., Since the pawl/Z 7 individual t0 the plate 78 secured to the arm 50 individual to the knife 19 has been moved out of the path of the-notch in the'plate 78, the arm 50 together withthe knife 19 will be moved downwardly, causing the sheet to be movedbetween folding rollers similarito 16and 17. H V

W hen a sheet forty-eight inches in length is aligned against the bar 11, the levers 79, 95 and 96' are raised and also a lever 101. The raising of the lever 101 results in the actuation of knife 28in a manner similar to that described in. connection with knife 15. In orderto prevent the actuation of knives 15 and 19 when the knife 28 is actuated, the irregular surface 66 of a cam 63 is circumferentially displaced with respect to the irregular surfaces 64 and of a cam 62 and the cam 59, respectively, the irregular surfaces of the latter two cams being in substantially circumferential alignment sothat when a sheet of paper raises the levers 7 9, 95,

.96 and 101, the irregular surface of the cam 63 will first reach the roller 58, allowing the knife 28 to be actuated, moving the sheet between the folding rolls 29 and 30, and by the time the irregular surfaces or depressed portions 64: and 65 of cams 59 and 62, respectively, have reached their rollers 58, the paper will have been removed from underneath the fingers 79, and 96 whereupon the pawl 77 individual. to each of the plates 78 will be restored to its normal position in the path of the notch in these plates and no achiation of knives 15 and 19 will occur as the arm 50 in dividualto each knife is prevented from mo ving downwardly under the action of spring 7 5' due tothe position of pawls 7 7 Acounter is mounted upon a bracket 106 carried by the frame of the machine adjacenteach of the folding knives 15, 19 and 28. The counters are operated by springs 107 which are attached to the reciprocating members 78 and arms 108 of thecounters, In this 'manner an accurate record is kept of the number of each size of sheets folded.

It will beu'nderstood that the selectors described may be adaptedfor the folding of various sizes of sheets and that the'embodim'ent of the invention herein described and illustrated is merely a convenient and useful form of the invention which is capable of many other modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

'1. In a sheet folding apparatus, a plurality of folding rolls, folding knives cooperating with said rolls, and means selectively operated in accordance with the size of the sheet for automatically controlling the operation of said knivestofold sheets of different sizes to a predetermined size."

2. In a sheet folding apparatus,'a plurality of folding rolls, a plurality of folding knives cooperating with said rolls and means selectively operated in accordance with the size of the sheet for operating said knives to fold the sheet to a predetermined size. 3. Ina sheet foldingapparatus, a plurality of paths each capable of folding a sheet of a'particular size to a predetermined size, and means for selectively directing a sheet into one of said paths in accordance with its slze. V V V 41 In asheet' folding apparatus, a plurality ofpairsof folding rolls, each pair of which advances a sheet along a different path, a'folding knife cooperating with each pair of folding rolls, and means selectively operated in accordance with the size of the sheet for operating said knivesto advance a sheet along a path determined by its size.

5. In a sheet folding apparatus, a series of "folding knives, means for selectively operating said knives in accordance with the size of the sheet to be folded, and means for preventing the first knives of-saidseries from operatingwhen a kn1fe later in the series 1s operated.

6. In a sheet folding apparatus, a plurality of folding knives, means for selectively operating one of said knives, andlmeans for preventlng the operation of other .of- Sand knives when one of saidknives is operated. 7. In asheet folding apparatus, a plural ity of folding knives, a lever for controlling the operation of a knife associated with eachof the knives, and means for rendering all but one of the levers lneifective to cause the opration of a knife when thelevers are actu-Q ated. Q

8. In a sheet folding apparatus, a folding :knife, a support for the knife provided with a notch, a pawlforengaging said notch to prevent the operation of the knife, a lever actuated'bythe sheet to be folded for disengaging the pawl, and means for holdingthe knife and its support in such a position" as to permit the pawl to loosely engage the notch when'the lever isactuated by a sheet;

9. In a sheet'folding apparatus, a folding I knife, a support for the knife provided with a notch, a pawl for engaging said notchto, v prevent'the operation of the knife, ,a'lever actuated by the sheet to be folded for disengaging-the pawl, and a cam havinga circular; surface for holding said knife and its support in such a position as to permit the'pawl to loosely engage the notch when the lever is actuated by a sheet. 1

10." In a sheet folding apparatus, means V for folding"different sizes of sheets, and 1 ciated with each of the knives to record the numberof' sheets folded by the knife. 1

12. Inasheet folding apparatus, a plural- I ity of folding devices, means for directing the sheet to the folding devices, and means operated automatically by the sheet in ac cordance with its size for controlling the operation of said means.

' In witness whereof, I my name this 21 day of March, A. D. 1927.

ALEXANDER ASCHAM MccoRMAcK.

hereunto subscribe 

